FAQ
Medical Devices

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The following resources may be used to find information about medical device manufacturers and suppliers, journal articles, or approvals and patents.

Note that NLM staff cannot respond to questions about individual medical cases, provide second opinions or make specific recommendations regarding the use of medical devices. Those issues should be addressed directly with your healthcare provider.


Identifying Manufacturers and Suppliers of Medical Devices

• - There are a few books that are directories of manufacturers or suppliers of medical devices. These resources may be available at a local medical, hospital, academic, or public library:
  • - Health Devices Sourcebook
  • - Medical Device Register (U.S./Canada and International editions)
  • - Thomas' Register of American Manufacturers
  
  
• - A number of medical device resources are available on the Internet, and can be found by using an Internet search engine. NLM is neither responsible for the availability or content of these external sites, nor does NLM endorse, warrant or guarantee the products, services or information described or offered at these other Internet sites. Just a few of the sites are:
  
  
  • - Medical Device Link's Suppliers Page at http://www.devicelink.com/company/
    
    
  • - MedMarket's Product Guide at http://www.medmarket.com/product_guide.php
    
    
  • - Google's listing of Medical Equipment Manufacturers at http://directory.google.com/Top/Business/Healthcare/Products_and_Services/Medical_Equipment/Manufacturers/
    
    
  • - Medical Device Manufacturers Association at http://www.medicaldevices.org/public/
    
    
  • - Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation at http://www.aami.org/

• - MEDLINE, which is used to find references to journal articles on specific medical topics, contains citations and author abstracts from more than 4300 biomedical journals published in the United States and in 70 foreign countries. It can be searched free of charge on the Web.
  
  
• - Using MEDLINE:
  
  
  • - MEDLINE can be searched using the PubMed search system at http://pubmed.gov/
    
    
  • - NLM encourages MEDLINE users to discuss search results with their health care provider

• - The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health is responsible for "ensuring the safety and effectiveness of medical devices..."; available at http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/index.html
  
  
• - U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at http://www.uspto.gov/

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/meddevice.html

Last updated: 06 May 2004
First published: 21 April 2003
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